Vice Mayor Jerry Taylor, former city council member Dan Clark and Ridgecrest resident Randy Clark will contend for the mayor’s seat.

In a news release sent Friday, Holloway stated he had decided not to run for mayor. While he had originally considered running because he felt he “represented a more balanced alternative to current city issues” than the two other declared candidates that represented political opposites of each other.

“I quickly became disappointed that one candidate was going to pursue a negative campaign both against his current opponent as well as cur-rent council members and city staff,” Hollow stated in the news release.

While he was not concerned with the upcoming round of Base Realignment and Closures, Holloway stated the 2014 round would be pivotal. Having already served as mayor for two terms during the last round of base closures, he said it was a full time task and better suited to someone else.

Holloway urged people to differentiate between the message and the messenger when it came to the perceived negativity coming from city hall.

“Our country and our community has weathered unprecedented obstacles and our staff and all current council members should be applauded and recognized for doing the best with some difficult outcomes,” he stated.

Holloway stated the next mayor “needs to be a leader not a divider, a visionary not a naysayer and most importantly someone who is committed to working with everyone to accomplish the best for all of Ridgecrest.

Patin said after some serious thought, he decided not to run for the mayor’s position.

“I think right now the city needs a full time mayor,” Patin said in a phone interview Friday. “There’s a candidate that is already running and has had experience on the council and is retired.”

Patin said that while the mayor’s position is part time, it was best served by one who could devote a lot of time to it.

“I basically backed out to support Dan Clark’s decision to run,” Patin said. “I worked with him on council before and we worked well together. He’s the right candidate at the right time for the position.”

City Council Race On the city council election front, Lori Acton filed her nomination papers for one of two council seats Friday.

Currently, there are four verified candidates in the city council race. Mayor Ron Carter, Planning Commissioner Jim Sanders, former city council member Tom Wiknich and Ridgecrest resident Henry Wilson will all vie for two open council seats.

Only potential council candidate William Dale Howard has yet to file his nomination papers. Howard has until Aug. 15 at 5 p.m. to file his papers with the city clerk.